KSU Overseas Job Training

It was raining heavily today. I went to school with a small umbrella and my feet got very wet. I left the house a little late so I brought toast and an apple for breakfast. But the rain was not all bad because the sushi in the cafeteria was only $6 for two. The sushi was very tasty and very Japanese, and I could feel Japan. I would like to buy it again on a rainy day. After class, we played table tennis. Ping-pong is free, so we played until the evening. After that, we went to a bar at the university. I was surprised that there was a bar at the university. At the bar, I drank a ginger beer recommended by my classmate. It was very tasty with a strong ginger taste. It had stopped raining by the time I left the university, which was good timing. When I got home, I had dinner and went to bed right away.

In Japan, Japanese food is the main food. However, Australia has a multinational culture, so I was able to enjoy many kinds of food. My homestay family used chopsticks very skillfully, and I felt that Japanese food is well accepted in Australia.

I was also surprised at the difference in working styles and working hours. The start time of work is the same, but the end time is around 3:00 to 4:00 pm. So many stores are closed by this time. Compared to this, Japan has long working hours. When I asked my host father about this, he told me that it is important to have a good separation between working hours and resting hours. Australian people, including host families, are very very friendly, and I feel that they have a lot of leeway in their minds. I believe that this relaxed atmosphere is a result of the working environment.

I attended a practice where my host father Oliva is a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu teacher. It was very difficult because I had never done it before, but everyone was very kind and friendly. I experienced firsthand the power and size of foreigners. However, it seemed to me that Japanese people are more flexible. Also, yesterday I went to buy a cap. I expected that Australian shopkeepers would be less attentive than their Japanese counterparts. However, the opposite was true. They were very friendly and explained everything slowly and politely. We also had a lot of conversations, and it was a day that made me like Australian people more and more.

About yesterday’s class, it was a great time. We met up with students from other classes and exchanged information about our cultures and what we like. It was a great learning experience with people from different countries exchanging their opinions with each other. We especially enjoyed talking about the original things about our cultures and our favorite foods. In the second half of the class, the teacher and Bruce played the guitar and sang a song together. Most of the students had never heard the song before, but they practiced it several times and sang it together at the end. Even though the countries, regions, and cultures where the students were born are different, music is universal, and I think this was a moment when everyone was able to create an enjoyable atmosphere together. I was very moved and at the same time I wanted to share the music of different cultures with my friends.

I practiced speaking English again today. Today’s tasks were “Spot the right word”, “Holiday crossword”, and “Holiday choices”. Every task was not difficult. After that we discussed, “How do you spend your holidays?”. Every day I have practiced speaking English, but the topics are not the same so I can enjoy. After finishing every class, I went to the mall again with my friends. I ate lunch with Keishi and Shinsei. The other students ate at a Thai restaurant. We ate chips and schnitzel that were so tasty. I changed to sweet potato from ordinary taste that was recommended by other Japanese students. After lunch, Shyunsuke and I went to Liquor Island and I bought wine made in the Barossa valley.

I was surprised to find that Australians park their car on the side of the road. In Japan, we have to park our cars in a parking lot. We can’t park on the side of the road for a long time. I found that traffic rules are totally different in Japan and Australia. For example, Australia has a lot of rotaries and the time allowed for people to cross the street is very short. But some rules are the same, such as having the steering wheel on the right and driving on the left side of the road. These things are the same as Japan. I don’t know all of the rules yet.

Also, Australians have a lot of Japanese cars. For example, people have Toyota, Mazda, Mitsubishi, etc. I asked my host family, “Why do Australians have so many Japanese cars?” They said, “Japanese cars are safe and the quality is very good. I felt a little bit happy because I felt like Japan was praised.

I also found Australians to be very kind and friendly. When I got off the bus, the door closed and I almost got caught in the door. When that happened, some Australians said to me, “Are you OK? Are you sure?” I felt that Australians are very kind.

Australia has a lot of beaches. All of them are very beautiful and so long. Japan has a lot of beautiful beaches, but most of them are not long and many may be dirty. I haven’t gone swimming yet I wanna go swimming by February 17th.

I knew that Australians swim and surf at the beach, but I realized that many Australians also sunbathe on the beach. Japanese people don’t do that much, so this is a difference between Australia and Japan.

Two days ago, my host mother and I went to Wollongong Central. It was a large shopping mall and there were a lot of shops. Two things surprised me. First, I was surprised that most shops close at 4 o’clock. We arrived at Wollongong Central at 3 o’clock so we had only an hour left to go around the shops. I thought it was a little bit disappointing, but my host mother told me that most people finish work early and go home to spend time with their families. I learned that Australians value time with their families.

Second, I was surprised that there was a large range of cultures represented in the shops and restaurants. I found a Chinese market, as well as Japanese and Mexican restaurants there. Australia is a country where about a quarter of the population is immigrants, so there are a lot of shops and facilities where you can learn about diverse cultures. When I was looking at the snacks at the Chinese market, I found some Pocky and bought it because I felt nostalgic. The clerk there was very kind and noticed that I was from Japan. In like this way, I felt that no matter which country you come from, there is a place where you can feel comfort in Australia.

Today was the first day at UOW. My first goal was to get from my host family’s house to UOW. My host family had a Japanese exchange student, Yuka, until yesterday. She moved to the UOW dormitory yesterday. She told me everything about life in Australia and how to get on the bus. Without her, I would not have been able to go to UOW and would not have been able to go back to my host family’s house. But, this morning, I was just about to get on the high school bus. The driver told me, “You don’t need to tap your card because this bus is headed to the high school.” I tapped off my card and got off the bus and got on the right bus. But when I got to UOW, I didn’t know where building 30 was. I got lost!! I showed people pictures of building 30 and asked them where it was. But no one knew! Then Keishi helped and came to where I was. あぁ、安心。

I worked at Adventure Valley Childcare. It took me about 15 minutes to get there on foot. There were 8 teachers and 25 children at the preschool. The teachers were very kind and fun, and the children were cheerful. They played with me all the time. My work started at 9 a.m. and finished at 3 p.m. The work was harder than I thought it would be. The children took me to the garden and said, “Look at me!”, “Come on!” and so on. I had to observe them and be alert for danger because you never know what children will do. Also, they would cry or get angry as soon as they didn’t get what they wanted. It was difficult for me to calm them down. I didn’t know what I should do when that happened. I somehow managed to stop their crying, but I couldn’t find a  good solution. I learned about children and working in the childcare industry. I was able to work without causing any accidents. It was a good experience for me. I feel gratitude to those who supported me.

I lived with the Burns family for four weeks. There were a lot of things that surprised me while living with them. First of all, the house was so big. It wasn’t only this house. Every house was big and had large yards. My homestay family had a trampoline which I often played on. My host mother, Megan, was good at cooking and liked to keep the rooms tidy, so she often told me to clean my room. Every Monday night, she went to a yoga class. My host father, Brian, was very tall. He played cricket very well and I found many trophies in the house. Also, he loves games, so he had a pinball machine and old arcade games in the house. The older brother, Matthew, was very energetic and was always moving around. The younger brother, Harry, was also active and cried easily. The brothers were crazy about Minecraft. I didn’t understand what was so interesting about it, but they showed me how to play it. The dog, Benji, was very energetic, but liked to relax with me. He was like a cloud and was cute. They took me to various places, and I had good experiences. The next time I see them, I want to talk with them in better English.

My New Zealand life has finished. When I look back over the past month, I think the best part of this study abroad was my encounters with people. I met so many people that changed my perspective. I made friends with some people from other countries. Sometimes, we ate out for dinner. We talked about each other’s countries. I really enjoyed taking with them. When we talked  about Japanese politics, I couldn’t explain it very well. So I decided to study English and about Japan more. We also went to museums and talked about art and culture. I had a very nice time. My best memories from New Zealand are the times I spent with my friends. Everything in New Zealand was new and exciting. I felt excited just walking outside! The blue sky, the giving trees, the wide roads, the lovely sunset, the beautiful sea, the street art, the Maori traditions… I was always happy. I especially liked the clouds. They were so graceful. I had never seen anything like that. That was my favorite thing about New Zealand. This will forever be another sky of mine, Aotearoa.

My great New Zealand life has finished. I was able to spend wonderful days with kind people in an interesting city with beautiful nature. I especially want to say thank you so much to my host family because I could live comfortably thanks to them. I thought that if they were not my host family, perhaps I would’ve had a much tougher time in New Zealand. For example, my host father patiently continued talking to me although my English was not good. I mean, sometimes we could not communicate well because of my poor English ability, but he gave me many chances to speak English. And my host mother made breakfast, lunch, and dinner every day. In particular, on the days when I went to the university, I had to get up early, but she also got up to make me breakfast and a lunchbox. Moreover, she picked me up on my internship days – not only me, but also my friend. What kind people!! I was really really lucky to have them as my host family. Thank you Frans and Lisa.

Today, I will introduce my internship experience. I worked at the Pullman hotel for two weeks. I was assigned to handle food and  beverages. In the first week, I worked at a banquet. I also did the setup and cleaning for some conference and meeting. Sometimes, it was hard work for me, and I had some muscle pain in my arm. In the second week, I worked in the restaurant as a breakfast buffet staff. I did the table clearing and setup. Sometimes, I took some orders from guests. I had to get up by 5am because work a the restaurant started at 7am. This was the  hardest thing for me in this internship because I’m not good at waking up early in the morning. In addition, there were many staff at the hotel who came from outside NewZealand. That’s why their English had unique accents which differed from Kiwi English. So I tried to understand what they said, and they also tried to understand my English. This was a little bit hard, but I could learn many things. There were many difficult thing in my internship, but I enjoyed working there because everyone I met was so nice and kind to me.

My month of studying abroad has finally ended. The third week and forth week, I had my internships. In general, we work at one place, but I worked at three places. First, I worked at Kelmarna Gardens because I wanted to do work that was unique to New Zealand. At Kelmarna Gardens, there are many organic plants, vegetables, and flowers. That’s rare in the world. All of the work was under the hot sun, so it was very hard. On Thursday, I got sick because of the compost and left early. I moved it from one big wooden box to another one. The compost smelled very bad, and there were many insects. After that, our agent Miki suggested that I transfer to another internship, and I agreed. At my second internship, I worked at Lake Panorama Student Homestays, but I didn’t have much work because of the coronavirus. I finished there on Thursday. At my third internship, I worked at Gina & Partners with Miki for just one day. I helped Miki as her assistant. I took pictures with international students and OJT members, and I went to SO/ Auckland with Miki to talk with the hotel’s HR department. I had a wonderful experience during these two weeks. I want to make good use of this experience in the future.